The Royal Revenge
Chapter 213: Not In Good Terms

Chapter 213: Not In Good Terms

"Several weeks, you say?" Elys said as she picked up the note Lady Azalea put on her office desk.

The young queen scrutinized the piece of paper in her hand, and then after reading and taking note of all of its details, handed it back to Lady Azalea. Her lips curled up into a cunning smile, and she leaned forward as she beckoned the noble lady closer to her.

Lady Azalea did as she was ordered, and took a step closer towards Elys’ desk.

"Closer, Lady Azalea," Elys beckoned her with a finger.

The noble vampire hesitated for a second, but then did as she was told. She moved in one step forward, her hips already touching the edge of the young queen’s desk.

It was an awkward position, and so much more the fact that Lady Azalea wasn’t entirely comfortable with Elys’ ways at the moment.

What was the young queen even thinking of?

It seemed quite weird to be this close to her at all.

"Lean forward, I will tell you something that might delight you quite a bit," Elys said, her eyes cunningly twinkling.

"Yes, your majesty, Queen Elysianne," Lady Azalea responded.

"I will do my best to do what you request of me," Elys whispered in the vampire’s ear. "But under one condition..."

+++

Aleksander held a separate meeting with his knight commanders regarding the suspicious activities surrounding the Western Kingdom’s borders.

Elys would have attended it, knowing how much she was on hand in terms of issues like this. But Aleksander and her had a falling out that the two of them haven’t even talked.

Despite the couple’s recent dinner together, not a word was spoken to even address the elephant in the room. Elys was too stubborn to acknowledge Aleksander’s concerns regarding keeping Cordelia in her room.

They couldn’t find a common ground, and it was made all the more difficult considering they were not even talking.

Even just a single word – nada.

"Your majesty, the eastern side of the borders are having the most suspicious activities within the forest surrounding it as of the moment," one of the knights lower ranked than Sir Wiriam said.

"The animals and beasts haven’t calmed down yet?" the young king asked.

"No, sire," the young knight replied, "but we made sure to station everyone surrounding the borders, at the very least even with the cannibalistic rampage going on, it would be much easier to respond should the matters escalate quickly."

Aleksander bit his nails and went through other reports sent to him by knight commanders who couldn’t spare the time to join their short meeting at the main palace.

One of those letters were from Sir Wiriam himself. It was a detailed account of what had transpired ever since they observed the sudden increase in foreign animals in the borders.

"How has the other borders fared so far?" Aleksander asked one of his knight commanders.

"My side of the borders are fine, your majesty," one of them replied.

Aleksander’s eyes veered towards the others who were present, and then asked, "Anybody else?"

"Mine as well," another replied.

"Aside from minor crimes, which I just tolerate to be honest," a third answered nonchalantly, "my side of the borders are clear as well."

The young king’s ears piqued at the mention of minor crimes. He recalled his wife had been adamant on the part that they should not let petty crimes go unpunished.

"What are these minor problems you encounter?" Aleksander addressed the knight commander, "Tell me more about it."

The said knight commander suddenly stiffened in his chair. The vampire king noted the quick change in his demeanor, from that of pompous confidence, to now of a cowering fear.

"You seem to have turned dead silent, Knight Commander," Aleksander turned his eyes into menacing slits. "Spill it out or else I will have your guts spilled out instead."

The said knight commander that had earned Aleksander’s ire straightened his shoulders and manned up. He turned serious as he gulped a big wad of saliva stuck to his throat and then conversed with the young king.

"Your majesty, the minor crimes I meant were those like theft and underground businesses like gambling and everything else," the knight commander said, "Other than that, we have nothing we needed to respond as of the moment."

"That’s superb then," Aleksander said, his suspicion still up despite the explanation that the knight commander gave him. "No humans are being harmed or anything resembling slavery of any forms?"

The knight commanders shook their heads in unison.

"We have heeded the decree that her majesty, the Queen Elysianne, had passed the other day," one of the knights explained. "As much as possible, we try to live by it."

Against Aleksander’s better judgement, his silvery eyes turned to their menacing golds as he addressed his knight commanders. Although he was still angered by Elys’ choices to keep Cordelia isolated in her own room, Aleksander still held his promise true that he would help Elys achieve what she always wanted.

And that was to liberate her people from all the forced servitude. Hopefully things were within grasp now.

"All of you better be sure to protect humans," the young king reminded them. "Or else I would have your heads severed and displayed at the capital center!"

"Understood, your highness!" the knight commanders replied in unison, their backs straightened and their hands saluting at him.

The vampire king nodded and then spent another half an hour with them discussing their next steps regarding the pressing issue of the Eastern side.

"Alright, since all of your side borders except that of Sir Wiriam’s have been pretty quiet – I think it is high time that we pull out a number of your men to back up Sir Wiriam’s area," Aleksander said as he rolled Sir Wiriam’s letter.

The knight commanders were hesitant at first, but seeing Aleksander’s serious face, they didn’t even bother arguing anymore.

The young king stood up from his seat and then promptly went out of their meeting room. Marquis Lanz followed Aleksander around, handing him slips of scrolls that needed to be signed as soon as possible, not even waiting long enough for him to return to the Rose Palace.

"Marquis Lanz, are there anything else in my schedule tonight?" the young king asked his trusted secretary.

The Marquis lowered his head and adjusted his eyeglasses as he pored over Aleksander’s schedule, "You should be free the rest of the evening, your majesty."

Aleksander smirked and then said, "Have my queen informed that I would be waiting for her in our shared chambers," Aleksander said, "she must not deny my summons, or else..."

The vampire king trailed off with his sentence left hanging unfinished.

"Or else?" Marquis Lanz repeated, wanting to ask for more details.

"She will know when you tell her the exact same way I said it," Aleksander waved for the Marquis to go his way already.

As Aleksander took his first step inside the Rose Palace, he immediately noticed that there was definitely something amiss inside. But what it was and what it does is yet to be known.

The first thing that came into his mind right after noticing the heavy aura in the air was that of Elys and what she was doing. They still haven’t figured it out what it was that Elys had seen and felt yesterday in her office which made her quite spooked.

The door even shattered in her own doing.

Aleksander closed his eyes and listened in on the sounds that surrounded him. There were those of the servants and Elys’ noble ladies in waiting upstairs, also Cordelia who was curiously still stuck in his magic.

He tried to find Elys even though he knew he couldn’t possibly read her mind.

"Your majesty," a woman’s voice called out to Aleksander.

He turned around to see Lady Beatrice walking down the stairs. The young king didn’t expect her to be at the Rose Palace at all, much more was the fact that she was actually coming down the stairs as if she was looking down the hill.

"Lady Beatrice, what a surprise that you are here," Aleksander gave her a fake smile.

The young king suddenly felt the dark and heavy feeling he had as he entered the Rose Palace disappear, and an incredulous brow raised high. He looked up to see Lady Beatrice, and then the noble lady smiled at him.

"Likewise, your majesty, King Aleksander," Lady Beatrice responded to his greeting. "Truth be told, I had just started as a lady in waiting for today."

’Lady in waiting?’ Aleksander raised his brow even higher.

He had not heard of anything from Elys about a new lady in waiting coming in to serve her. But then again, she and Aleksander weren’t exactly in good terms as of the moment. Anything closely resembling a conversation were mere grunts as they passed each other by the hallways.

Aleksander stared at Elys new lady in waiting and decided to ask something.